Bsi Holdings Is Now Autobanc

Ex-stockbroker Finds Success In Finance Business

A former discount stockbroker has found moving into the finance business has paid off so well that it is changing its name.

Norfolk-based BSI Holdings Inc., which sold its discount brokerage operation in 1988, announced Tuesday that it had changed its name to AUTOBANC, Inc. The company's new stock market symbol is NOTE.

Chairman Roger S. West said that since the sale of Broker Securities Inc., his firm has been transforming itself into a finance company.

"We've been kinda low key, looking for acquisitions," said West.

"We expect to be more visible now that we've established ourselves," he said.

West said the company tried to buy a couple of finance companies with the money from its sale of Broker Securities, but eventually decided to plunge into the market on its own.

AUTOBANC buys installment loans made to consumers by car dealers, encyclopedia companies and retailers. It buys the loans at a discount, and in exchange for assuming the risk they won't be repaid, aims to makes a profit by collecting the full interest and principal due on the loans. The company operates in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.

Last year, the company lost $100,000, but West said that was due to the cost of getting started in the finance company business. West said the company has slowly built up its assets to about $1 million from the $700,000 it received when it sold Brokers Securities.